In 2011 Myanmar experienced significant change and promises of reform. The new government was formed on March 30, with Pres. Thein Sein announcing a broad agenda that included economic and social reform, a push against corruption, and promises to respect basic freedoms. The national parliament and 14 regional and state assemblies convened, with members fairly free to raise issues formerly deemed too sensitive for public debate. Press restrictions were relaxed, and relatively open debate within Myanmar was permitted. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had talks with government interlocutors and was permitted to travel around the country. Her party—although it was still ostensibly illegal—was allowed to open offices and conduct public events without official harassment; in December it was allowed to register for upcoming elections.

Released inmates exit Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, May 17, 2011. During that year the newly …

Soe Zeya Tun—Reuters/Landov

High-level visitors to Myanmar in 2011 included Vijay Nambiar, the special representative of the UN secretary-general; Derek Mitchell, the recently appointed U.S. special envoy and policy coordinator; Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd; and, late in the year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met with President Thein Sein and with Suu Kyi. In August, Tomás Ojea Quintana, the UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, visited the country, met with senior government officials, and saw political detainees at Insein Prison near Yangon (Rangoon). Myanmar applied to become chair of ASEAN for 2014.

Ethnic conflict resumed in several parts of Myanmar during 2011 as long-standing cease-fires with ethnic Kachin and Shan insurgents broke down. More than 50,000 civilians were displaced in those areas, while ethnic conflict between Karen rebels and the Myanmar military in eastern regions displaced an estimated 500,000 civilians. The government proposed peace talks with various ethnic militias.

In September the president announced the suspension of the controversial Myitsone hydroelectric-dam project in Kachin state, responding to mounting local discord and to rare open disagreements between government ministers over the dam’s potentially damaging environmental and human rights effects. Construction of crude oil and natural gas pipelines from Myanmar into southern China continued, as did major hydro-dam projects on the Salween River.

The UN estimated real GDP growth in Myanmar at 5.8% in 2011. Foreign investment, mostly in the energy sector, exceeded $16 billion. The kyat appreciated dramatically in 2011—from some 1,000 kyat to the U.S. dollar to around 800—causing difficulties for exporters. Economists in Myanmar advised the government to align the exchange rates as a first step in promised economic reforms intended to rejuvenate the crucial agricultural sector. Commodity prices and inflation rose in 2011, causing increased hardships for rural and poor populations even as urban elites experienced a boom.

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